And Then Everything Changed
by sassygayowen
Summary: What if Owen hadn't gotten out of the sinkhole? What if it really was as unstable as they said it was?
1. Chapter 1 Under the Rubble

**A/n: Quite honestly this came to me just before I was about to go to bed one night. I kept toiling over the idea of it when I first watched the episode where Owen and Callie go and rescue that couple from the sinkhole. When I first watched it I was paranoid about this actually happening...and then for some reason I wrote it...**

**I own nothing but the story. YUP.**

Chapter One- Under the Rubble

Maybe it hadn't been a good idea. It seemed necessary at the time but now, it seemed, regret was sinking in.

But it was too late.

He had insisted on going down there. There was no way he was letting Callie come down with him as she had a wife and a daughter.

What did he have?

At least he had saved a life. Or at least hoped so. He silently prayed for the couple he had gotten out of this hole.

And now, he had replaced them in the hole. Literally. Buried under massive amounts of concrete and debris. Owen wondered if he might die down there. He was just surprised it hadn't crushed him instantly. Instead he laid under the rubble awaiting his imminent death.

He remembered Callie crying out to him that it was unstable. He remembered her telling him to get out...and he had tried. He'd made an effort. Unfortunately the ground was just too unstable to support anything anymore.

And here he laid under the rubble.

Owen was pretty sure he was bleeding. His shoulder was warm and his abdomen ached, not to mention his head sure hurt.

It was dark and wet down there. He scanned the area for any sign of light.

And waited.

"OHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Callie shouted as she stared at the once empty hole. She ran her fingers through her hair and paced around. Search and rescue had been called so all she could do is wait. Callie considered calling the hospital but she had to calm herself down first. Her hands were shaking too much and tears unwillingly spilled from her eyes.

Once she was certain she could speak clearly, she plucked her cellphone from her pocket and dialled.

"Good Morning, Seattle Grace Mercy West Emergency." She heard Lexie's cheery voice say.

"Lexie...It's Callie." She said carefully.

"Oh Hey Dr. Torres. How's it going over there? When are you and Dr Hunt coming back?" She asked.

"Oh we got them both out. Hunt had to go into the hole and amputate the wife's leg."

"Oh god..."

"Yeah...Lexie..." Her voice was shaking.

"What is it? Callie? Are you alright?" She replied with panic in her voice.

"Owen...he...the hole...it was unstable..."

"Okay..."

"He's trapped...down..there." She managed to say finally.

"OHMYGOD! Do you need us? Do you want me to tell Cristina?" Lexie said in panic mode. She started racking her brain, thinking about what they might need or how long it might take to rescue him or what injuries he might have.

"Search and Rescue are coming. I'm just here waiting. I don't know...how..long it will take...but...you should probably tell people before it hits the news..." Callie said sadly and hung up.

Lexie leaned against the wall. She sighed and headed upstairs to find the Chief. She found him sitting in his office pouring over some paperwork.

"Chief..."

"Ah Dr. Grey. What can I do for you?" His smile faded as he saw the expression on her face. "What is it?"

"It's Dr Hunt sir...He..."Lexie started to say.

"What is it? What about him?" Richard asked, becoming increasingly worried.

"After he went down into the sink hole to help the couple, it...collapsed on him. Dr Torres just phoned and told me."

Richards eyes widened. "Damn him and his hero complex!" He swore.

Richard got up. "Come with me." He said firmly. The pair headed back into the ER.

Richard stood in the middle of the room. "Gather around people." He commanded loudly.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"As most of you know, several hours ago a massive sink hole opened up on one of the streets of Seattle. We have successfully rescued the couple that fell into it. They are on their way..." He paused. "Unfortunately, one of our own didn't make it out in time before the hole collapsed in on itself. Right now, we need faith. For those of you that do, pray for them. Search and Rescue are helping them now. We need to be ready. We need an OR prepped and ready. We need lots of O-Neg blood. We need people on standby. There is no way we are losing another one of our doctors. I will not let that happen." Richard said firmly. He had decided not to tell them exactly who it was that was trapped. He figured he would tell Cristina himself rather than her finding out second hand.

Richard walked over to Cristina who was chatting with Meredith. "Dr Yang...Can I speak to you for a second?" He asked her calmly.

"Sure Chief..." Her and Meredith exchanged looks as she went with him into one of the empty trauma rooms.

"Dr Yang..."

"Yes sir? What is it?" She asked him worriedly.

He took a deep breath.

"Dr Yang the doctor that's trapped under the rubble is Dr Hunt." He said as calmly as he could. Richard braced himself.

"What?...What no! No that's not right. It's a mistake! He's not! NO!" Cristina cried out loudly. Her knees gave out and she collapsed in Richards arms.

"No no no no no." Cristina cried out as tears fell from her eyes. The breath escaped from her lungs as she struggled to breathe normally. Cristina kept taking in gulps of air in the hopes that she wouldn't pass out. Her heart pounded against her chest.

Richard gave her a paper bag to breathe into so she could stop hyperventilating. She took it from his hands and breathed into it. Slowly she gained her breathe back.

"Is...is he going to be okay?" She finally asked.

"We hope so. We don't know the extent of his injuries or anything..." Richard replied sadly. He wished he could just tell her that everything was going to be alright and that he would be alive.

"Just...just get him out..please." Cristina pleaded.

"We will. Don't worry about that."

Richard gestured for Meredith to come into the room.

"What happened?" Meredith asked distressed at her person's outcry of pain.

"Dr Hunt is the doctor down there." Richard replied.

"Oh my god!" She cried out. She rushed over to Cristina and hugged her tightly.

Cristina felt like her world was collapsing around her. She felt like she was down there with him, alone and in the dark.

She meant it when she said she couldn't breath without him.

It was so quiet. He felt a little bit like he'd gone deaf. Owen moved one of his fingers and scrapped it across the ground. Nope. Not deaf. He cried to cry out to someone...anyone...but no sound came out of his lips.

Owen started to worry. What if no one came? What if they deemed it too unsafe? What if they sealed him in there? Just laid concrete down to fix the street and uncased him in there for the remainder of his existence? He started to panic. He didn't want to die. He wasn't ready. This was not how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to grow old with Cristina and die when she did, not trapped under a pile of rumble. Owen had been so furious with her for wanting to get rid of their baby. It seemed that none of it mattered now.

As he lost more blood, he started to calm down.

Maybe dying wasn't so bad...He could finally be at peace. His heart rate started to slow and he let himself slip into unconsciousness.

At the surface, workers rushed around furiously, planning exactly how they were going to get him out of there.

About an hour or so later, they began to slowly remove the rubble.

2 hours later they finally reached where he was. One of the workers was carefully lowered down into the hole. He reached Owen's body and slowly manoeuvred him onto the board. They slowly raised his body up and out of the hole. Callie watched with horror as she spied his lifeless body laying on the board. She ran over to him and took his pulse.

A faint beat.

It wasn't much but it was there. He had massive external and internal injuries. His entire body was covered in blood. Callie could barely tell it was him. His strawberry blond hair was a deep deep red and his eyes were firmly shut. She had to get him to the hospital right away. There was no way he was going to die on the street. The EMT's helped Callie load him into the back and she rode with him all the way to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2 In Repair

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews for last chapter! YAY! So glad you guys liked it. ANYWHO, Enjoy this new chapter! **

Chapter Two- In Repair

Owen heard muffled sounds and strained to hear what they were. He scrunched his forehead as he slowly started to pick up each and every noise. Soon the sound was deafening. He wished he could go back to being temporarily deaf instead of having the sounds constantly reverberating in his ears.

There was a fury of activity going on around him, he knew. He could vaguely make out the voices of his friends who were running around, desperately trying to save his life. As he started to wake up, Owen started to feel the damage to his body. He tried frantically to scream out, to let them know how much pain he was in but no sound would come out. Owen tried to open his eyes. After a good solid couple of minutes he was finally able to do so. He immediately locked eyes with Derek.

Derek stared back at him. "Hunt?"

Owen stared back at him and blinked.

"Do you know where you are?" Derek asked him calmly.

Owen just stared at him and sort of tried to nod.

"You're at the hospital. We're going to do everything we can do help you. Just stay with us okay?" He asked him.

Owen tried speaking again.

"Alright. Just take your time. You might not be able to."

Owen was puzzled by that. What did he mean by that? Nevertheless he tried again.

The only thing that came out of his mouth was blood. Owen started coughing like crazy and fell unconscious.

He laid there and bled. They all worked frantically to stop the bleeding, constantly pumping him with blood.

"Do we have anymore O Neg?" Richard asked shouting over the chaos.

"I think so...what's his blood type? We can always get more of that." Alex replied, shouting back. He knew that O-neg was one of those universal blood types but if they could get some of Owen's actual blood then they would be set.

"It's O-Neg." He replied as he busily worked to stop the bleeding.

"Fuck. Okay. I'll go see how much we have left." Alex replied, clearly frustrated. Why did he have to have to the one type that couldn't be substituted? He ran out of the room and to the blood bank.

Once they managed to stabilize him, they took him to get an XRAY and a CT.

"How did he survive this?" Derek said as he stared at the scans.

"I don't know..."Callie said staring. "He's gonna need some serious hardware."

"I'm concerned about this bleeding." Richard said, gesturing at the scan of Owen's abdomen.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us." Bailey commented. "We need to get him in the OR immediately."

And with that they rushed him into surgery.

They worked on him for hours until he started to become unstable and they had to close him up temporarily. Owen was wheeled into the ICU.

Callie looked at Cristina who was pacing the hallway. "You want to see him?"

Cristina stopped in her tracks and stared. Did she? She finally decided she would. Despite their fight she definitely still loved him. Cristina walked towards his room and stopped in the doorway. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Owen laying in his bed, unconscious. He was barely recognizable. Tubes, wires, bandages, bruising covered his entire body. It was as though it wasn't Owen anymore but some battered up replacement. Sure she was used to seeing patients with a multitude of injuries but when it was someone she knew, someone she loved, it was absolutely horrifying. She walked over to him slowly and sat next to his bed.

Cristina stroked his cheek gently. "Oh baby..." She said quietly. Cristina realized she'd never called him that before but it just seemed to appropriate to the situation. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." Tears rolled down her face as she stared at her broken husband.

Cristina remembered the moment when she had heard Burke had been shot. It had seemed so surreal. She remembered not being able to even look at him. She couldn't even go into his room, let alone touch him. She had been a completely different person then.

Now this felt 10 times worse. And not just because his injuries were worse but she felt like a part of her was hurt too. Cristina never really believed in the idea of soul mates. Owen had mentioned it occasionally about how he thought they were but she had always went "Yes dear..." The idea was warming on her. The idea that this man was her other half was suddenly completely plausible to her. Owen had to get better. He had to.

Callie watched Cristina have a moment with her husband. This was not supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a quick in and out situation. Her frown deepened as she watched his STATS start to go down. She ran into the room.

"We have to get him back into the OR NOW!" Callie shouted. "Page Bailey and The Chief!" She commanded at Cristina.

They all ran into the OR while Cristina watched from the gallery. She pressed her hands against the glass and held her breath while she watched them operate.

"He's losing a lot of blood!" Richard commented angrily. "Where is the source of this bleeding?"

Dr. Bailey looked and looked. "I don't know..I don't know..." She muttered back as she searched through his insides. "I think we need to open him up more." She then noticed Cristina up in the gallery. "What is she doing up there? Someone get her out. We don't need to her to see this!" She commanded. "Cristina! Leave!" She shouted up at her. Cristina glared back but soon left.

They reluctantly opened him up more so they could get more visualization until they found it.

"THERE!" Dr. Bailey exclaimed excitedly.

They rushed to stop him from bleeding out. Once the surgery was complete, Richard stayed behind and started to stitch him up.

"You staying behind?" Dr Bailey ask him questioningly.

"Yes. We've just about cut him in half, it's the least I could do." Richard replied, not looking up. Bailey came back and helped him.

Once they were through, Owen was wheeled back into his room.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

"He still has a couple more surgeries to deal with." Derek explained to Cristina. "You need to prepare yourself for the possibility of-"

"I KNOW THE RISKS!" Cristina interrupted, frustration in her voice.

"The possibility of paralysis, blindness, memory loss..." He continued. "You have to realize he might not even wake up. And if it does, who knows what kind of brain damage he has."

Cristina's frown deepened. This was not something she wanted to hear.

"There's also the issue of his voice box..." Derek's voice trailed off.

Cristina looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean? No one said anything about that earlier..."

"I know...we thought we would be able to fix it in an earlier surgery but it's becoming apparent that he needs another one."

'ANOTHER surgery? He's already going to be scheduled for 2 more! I don't know how much more he can take!" Cristina cried out. This was becoming way too much for her. She was already having to deal with her fast approaching abortion, she didn't need to deal with all the possible outcomes of her husband's condition.

She felt like she might die. Literally. This was too much.

"Cristina. We're going to do everything we can for him. Right now we need to finish some work we did on him earlier."

Needless to say, she wasn't happy.

Derek who was still extremely furious with Meredith, bit his lip and phoned her.

"Derek! You called!" She said sounding very shocked over the phone.

"I'm not doing this for you. Cristina needs you. Hunt was in an accident." Derek said gloomily.

"Oh god. Okay. I'll be there soon." Meredith replied. "So Derek..."

Derek hung up.

Meredith swore as she closed her phone and headed upstairs.

"Cristina!" Meredith called out as she saw her lingering outside Owen's room. Cristina looked over at her with pure sadness in her eyes. She was, however, relieved that her person was here. Meredith hugged her.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?"

'I don't know..."

"What am I going to do? What should I do?"

"What's his prognosis?" Meredith asked her.

"Not good. They don't even know if he'll even wake up...Aaannd..."Cristina started in a shaky voice. "He...might not even be Owen anymore..." She managed to finish as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Meredith hugged Cristina hard.

"Oh Cristina...it's going to be okay..." Meredith soothed. "You want to go to Joe's and watch me get inappropriately drunk off tequila?"

"Fine..."

The two friends left the room and headed across the street. Cristina sat at the bar and ordered a round for her and Meredith.

"Why the frowny face? I know you are usually so peppy and cheerful." Joe asked her.

Cristina sighed. "My husband is in the hospital possibly dying."

"Oh. Shit." Joe replied shocked.

"Agreed." Cristina sipped her iced tea while Meredith pounded back her tequila.

"And you?" He asked Meredith who was sitting next to her with a similar expression.

"Thought I would try to help a friend's wife. Blew up in my face. Derek's all angry. Doesn't help I ruined a multimillion dollar Alzheimer's trial...but what do you do?"

"Shit. You two _really_ need these." He replied as he poured them each another.

"Thanks Joe..." Cristina replied as she finished her other glass. "I miss alcohol. I just thought...I would be able to deal with this with Owen..."

This was officially the worst day ever.

"I'll go with you." Meredith suggested. It was the least she could do.

"I just want to go home...at least for a little while..."Cristina said suddenly. Meredith nodded, tossed some money onto the counter and went with her to the firehouse.

Cristina made a bee-line for the bedroom and laid down in the bed, inhaling Owen's scent that lingered on the sheets.

Meredith laid next to her in the bed and sighed. She wrapped her arms around her sobbing friend. She wished she could say or do something to make her person feel better.

After a while, Cristina got up. "I've gotta go back. I don't want him to wake up and not see me. And if he doesn't remember me, he better see me first anyway. God what if he sees Kepner first?" Cristina made a face and Meredith made one back. They both headed back to the hospital. Cristina got them to put a cot in Owen's room and she laid down on it.

"It would be really great if you could just wake up and be better okay? I really need you to. You realize I never got rid of the baby? I wanted to wait for you. And...and now you're in a coma. I need you to wake up. I need you to remember me. We've gone through too much for you to just forget who I am. Seriously Owen. I'm baring my soul here. The least you could do is open your eyes...or something..."

His eyes remained shut.

But Cristina Yang wasn't about to give up that easily...


	3. Chapter 3 Hello My Love

**A/n: James Blunt helped me write this damn chapter. **

**Chapter Three- Hello My Love**

3 days.

It had been 3 days since the accident. Owen was still unconscious and Cristina was still pregnant, worried she might be getting rid of the only thing she had of him should he not make it. Cristina pushed those thoughts out of her head. There was no way she should afford to think that way even though every now and again the thoughts would creep back into her mind.

"Owen. This is getting old." Cristina started. "You seriously need to wake up." She reached over and stroked his hair. Tears fell down her cheeks. "Damn it Owen. Why did you have to go down there? WHY? Damn you and your hero complex! DAMN YOU!" Cristina sobbed into his neck.

She breathed in his scent.

Cristina then composed herself and wiped her tears away. She went into the bathroom to check herself and straightened up and headed into the Pit.

"Any cases?" She asked a loitering Lexie.

"No. Not really. Should you go home or something?" Lexie asked as gently as possible.

"No. If I go home, I'll just be alone. At least if I'm here, Owen can keep me company. Doesn't say much though but that's alright." Cristina said cracking a joke.

Lexie hesitated, wondering if she should laugh or if it was just one of those moments when the joke wasn't a joke at all but a cruel reminder of what was.

"You can laugh Lexie." Cristina assured. "I'm not going to suddenly crack. I'm fine."

Lexie laughed lightly regardless. She knew Cristina was hurting.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Cristina stared at the stone, a frown permanently fixed to her face.

It was never going to get better.

_Dr. Owen Hunt _

_Loving Son, Husband and Friend_

_1973-2011_

She had shed her tears. Her eyes dried up long ago. Her pain still felt fresh. It still felt like the day it had all happened. The day she lost him forever.

Cristina wished she could have seen his lovely blue eyes just once more. She wished she could have told him that she loved him. That he meant more to her than anything in the entire world. That she realized too late that 40 years wasn't enough. She had just lost her soulmate and her ability to breath.

Cristina woke up in a cold sweat. She immediately turned her head towards her still unconscious husband. It had all been a dream. A terrible terrible dream. Cristina reached over and squeezed his hand just to reassure herself he was still warm and with her.

He squeezed back.

"Oh my god!" Cristina shouted in the darkened room. She got up from the bed and got closer to him. "Owen?

Owen can you hear me? It's me. Cristina. I'm here honey. I'm here."

Owen squeezed her hand again. Cristina looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. She was so relieved. "Oh Owen. I'm so glad you're awake! I'll get a nurse to take the tube out." Cristina said as she noticed her hands were shaking. Her hands never shook yet in this moment, she couldn't be Dr. Yang, caring for a patient, she was a wife with her husband.j

A nurse came in and removed the tube from his throat making him slightly more comfortable.

"You..know who I am right?" Cristina asked him hesitantly.

Owen smirked as best as he could. He had initially been confused about where he was but as he can scanned the room it had become apparent to him that he was at the hospital which calmed him considerably. Owen knew he had a tube in his throat and knew the best thing to do was to breath normally. He had noticed Cristina asleep in the bed next to him. He smiled. It had startled him slightly when she had woken up in such a panic but he was relieved when she had immediately grabbed his hand.

Minutes later, a smiling Derek Shepard burst into the room. Owen stared at him.

"Hunt. You're awake." He said smiling.

Owen nodded a little.

"Alright I'm going to do a brief neuro exam." Derek sat on the edge of the bed and shone a light into his eyes. Owen squinted, annoyed at the light. After the rest of the exam, Derek was happy. "So far so good. I think we'll take him down for a CT and see what's going on. Now how's the voice?"

Owen looked at him and tried to talk. No actual sound came from his lips. More of a rushing of air. And that was it. He frowned.

_What the fuck._ Owen thought to himself. He looked back at Derek and tried again.

"Your larynx got crushed during your accident. We're going to work hard to repair it but we feel there are other things we need to focus on first. You still have some other surgeries that need to be dealt with." Derek said calmly.

Owen frowned.

_What accident?_

Owen thought about it. Nothing. What did he remember?

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Cristina was so relieved. A huge weight lifted itself off her as she took a deep, steadying breath. For a moment she had thought her dream had been real. For a moment her life had changed for the worst.

She looked over at Owen who had drifted off to sleep. Cristina immediately called Meredith.

"He woke up." She said into the phone.

"Oh thank god!" Meredith replied into the phone, relief clear in her voice.

"Can...can you go to our house and get some of his things?" Cristina asked her.

"Uuh...okay. I thought he had some."

"No..I just...I didn't want to leave..."

"Okay well okay. Just like clothes or something?"

"Well..." Cristina thought for minute. "He needs his pajama bottoms. The army ones and the Harvard med ones too. Oh and the blue fuzzy plaid ones I bought him for his birthday. Grab his army t-shirt and his "ON THE HUNT" t-shirt because it makes me laugh. It's black. Oh and his-"

"Maybe you should go and get them. You clearly know what you want." Meredith commented. "You're being all maternal you know."

"Shut up. Okay...I didn't want to leave but come get me."

"Okay..."

"Good."

20 minutes later Meredith showed up at the hospital and Cristina hopped into the jeep. They sped away and headed to the firehouse. Meredith and Cristina got out and headed in. Cristina made a beeline for their room and opened his drawers. Meredith watched her person methodically grab various shirts and pants and shove them into a near-by duffel bag.

"Does he really need all that?"

"Yes." Cristina snapped back as she looked around for anything else he might need. She finally settled on their wedding photo and shoved it in the bag too.

"Alright. Let's go."

"You've changed." Meredith said abruptly.

Cristina turned her head towards her. "What? No I haven't."

Meredith smiled and chuckled. "Yes you have. You've been with Owen the entire time he's been in the hospital. Even when that huge trauma came in the other day you just stayed by his bedside. You've changed. Surgery is not the most important thing in your life anymore."

"Ohgodyou'reright."

"You know it's okay? It's acceptable."

"Yeah yeah. I know. I think it's the hormones."

"I think it's Owen."

"Shut up."

Meredith smirked. "Now let's go so you can see him." She giggled. Cristina hit her.

"Are you going to get the...you know...abortion?" Meredith asked her nervously.

"Now is so not the time." Cristina replied with annoyance.

They drove back to the hospital and Cristina headed up to his room.

"Now I brought you a bunch of your stuff so you don't have to wear the crappy hospital clothes."

Owen smiled lightly at her.

She smiled back.

"Alright." Cristina paged Callie and waited. A short time later Callie appeared. "Can you help me?" She asked her, gesturing at the clothes. Callie nodded and they helped him into some familiar and more comfortable attire.

Owen was happy. Being out of that gown was the best thing to happen to him all day. Well next to waking up with Cristina of course.

Over the course of several days, started to look a little better. He wasn't quite strong enough for another surgery but soon he would be. He tried every day to remember. Owen remembered being angry. And that was pretty much it.

He sighed. And stared at the wall. Boredom was all he felt. He also suspected he might be a little high because now he was simply amused at his situation. Not being able to speak was extremely annoying. He might as well be unconscious, except then he wouldn't be able to see her.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Cristina suddenly realized she needed to make a decision.

And fast.

She didn't want to be a mother.

Right?

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Owen closed his eyes. Several hours later he heard Derek's voice. He was talking to someone.

"I don't know what his brain function is like. I just..I just don't know if he's going to even be able to be a surgeon anymore."

It was clear to him that they thought he was asleep and that he wasn't supposed to hear what they were saying. But he was fine. He could think. He could operate...obviously not now. But he could, after wards. He was fine! Owen wished he could scream out to them that he was alright and to stop talking about him.

But a part of him...wanted to know more...

"How am I supposed to tell him?" Cristina replied angrily.

"He might not even understand."

"Maybe...maybe he's fine."

"Cristina. He's not fine."

_I am fine._ Owen replied in his head.

"Well we won't know for sure until later. I'm not going to get comfortable with the idea that I have to deal with this...idea that Owen might...not...He's fine!"

_But I am fine! Can't you see Shepard? I'm fine!_ Owen screamed in his head.

Owen was annoyed. He wasn't slow or incapable of complex thought.

Damn him.

Oh just wait until he could speak again!

Owen opened his eyes and pretended that he had just woken up and not heard their exchange of words.

Cristina turned her head at the movement and smiled at him.

"Hey." She said walking over to him and kissing his lips. How they missed that.

Owen made a writing motion. Cristina noticed and grabbed some paper and a pen.

He took them from her as best he could and with shaky writing wrote he was sorry. Sorry for yelling at her and sorry that she wasn't Chief Resident.

It took her a moment to decipher what he had written to her but once she realized she smiled at him. She kept in the instant realization that he had no memory of their fight. He had no idea she was pregnant.


	4. Chapter 4 Damaged Goods

A/n: thanks for the reviews. It means a lot. The words that are italicized is what Owen is writing.

**Chapter Four- Damaged goods**

Cristina thought about not telling him. He didn't know so what's the harm in it? But what if he eventually found out? He'd be furious and hurt. But maybe he wouldn't remember ever.

She toiled with this idea for a long time. Cristina realized that if she didn't tell him her guilt would eat her alive.

But was now a good time?

Cristina headed into his room where she found him reading something.

" "Never Let Me Go"? That's what you decide to read? That's just depressing." She said smirking. Owen smiled at her.

Cristina sat their for several more minutes popping glances at him. Owen finally put the book down and looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

She sighed. "Owen...uuhmmm...I..." She took a steadying breath. "I'm pregnant."

Cristina watched his eyes light up. He was trying to keep his face neutral but his eyes always gave him away.

"But...I can't keep it. I know it's awful to tell you right now because you can't say anything but I just can't. I don't want to be a mother. I'm sorry. I really am."

Owen stared at her. He pushed down every feeling he had and nodded at her to let her know he supported her decision. She could see the hurt clear in his eyes.

She took his hand and squeezed it. Cristina leaned over and kissed him. She knew he was hurting but she just couldn't right now. There was no way she could raise a child right now. Her and Owen had careers to think about and right now, Owen had a recovery to get through.

"Alright. I have to go now but I'll be back later." Cristina said kissing him once more.

Owen kissed her back and watched her leave.

He knew he was in no shape to be a parent. He knew. It didn't make his thoughts or his dreams go away though. He still wished. How cruel this whole situation was. How could this have happened? To fall in love with a woman who didn't want the same things as he did. This woman was his soul mate and there was nothing he could do about it. Of course he didn't want to not love her. Cristina was a wonderful woman.

He'd probably make a terrible father anyway...

Owen sighed heavily and picked his book up one more time.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Cristina hurried up the hallway and got on her cellphone.

"Meredith...it's me. Listen. I told Owen. I need to you come with me tonight...6pm...call me." And with that, she headed into the Cardio wing.

At 6pm she headed toward the exam room. Meredith popped into the room shortly afterwards.

"Hey." She said smiling slightly.

Cristina smiled back at her.

"Hey."

Soon the doctor came in. "Are you absolutely sure you want this?" He said as he began to prep the small operating room.

Cristina frowned. "Maybe...not..."

"What do you mean?" Meredith asked her from her chair.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this...maybe I could be a mother..."

"Cristina! You can't not do this just because of Owen!"

"Mer! Maybe...maybe this could be good for us."

Meredith tried to reason with her person. She didn't want her to make a decision that she would inevitably regret.

"Cristina, you can't do this. HE can't do this." Meredith pleaded. "You can't just do this for him. You have to do it for you too. And besides you don't even know if he's okay."

"Meredith. I don't think you get it. I love him. I think...I truly think we need this. He needs this. I almost lost him Meredith. I almost lost in the bottom of a sinkhole! A fucking sinkhole! This...this child...I don't want to lose a part of him. I know I don't have to give up my career for this. I know I can be a mother and I know Owen will make a great father. And besides, he is FINE! His brain is FINE! Now I need to put some pants on!" She shouted defiantly.

The OB Surgeon was slightly taken back by Cristina's outburst but he was happy. He always heard about Dr Yang but he had never actually met her. Now that he had, he fully understood why Dr Hunt was with her. She was fiery and passionate.

Meredith was still sceptical. She couldn't believe Cristina was doing this. She felt like she needed to figure out something, anything to convince Cristina otherwise...maybe she could talk to Owen.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Cristina burst into Owen's room.

Owen looked up at her, his eyes betraying him once again. Cristina noticed and smiled slightly. "Owen...I'm keeping it."

He did a double take. "What?" He mouthed.

"I'm keeping the baby."

Owen's face broke out into a wide smile. He gestured for her to come closer to him and grabbed her and hugged her as tightly as he could. Owen leaned over and grabbed the pen and paper. With shaky hands, he asked her what changed her mind.

Cristina looked at what he had written. "Owen...I almost lost you."

He wrote _"Dontdo this bc of me." _ in shaky writing.

"I'm not. I'm doing it for us. I want this. I really do."

"_R u sure?" _He asked her.

"Yes. I am. I know I don't have to give up my career for it." Cristina replied smiling at him.

Owen grinned.

She grinned back and crawled on the bed next to him. Cristina lightly put her arm around him and snugged close. Owen felt like the happiest person in the world.

Cristina's pager went off.

"Crap." She said picking it up and looking at it. It was Teddy. "Another trauma. I'll be back soon okay?" She said as she got up and put her shoes back on.

Owen nodded at her and watched her leave.

What a place he now found himself in. Here he was laying in a hospital bed without the ability to do much of anything yet he was filled with a new level of joy and hope. He couldn't eat solid food but he was damn well going to be a father! That was something to hold on to during this horrible situation and it helped.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Richard walked the hallway towards Owen's room and popped in. 

He smiled when he saw him awake staring into space.

"Hey Hunt. How are ya?" He asked cheerfully. He frowned suddenly. "Sorry..." Remembering Owen could verbally reply.

Owen smirked and lifted his hand flat and titled it side to side as to indicate so-so.

Richard nodded and sat in the chair next to his bed. He sat there silently for several minutes before he finally looked at Owen.

"Why Hunt? Why go down there when you _knew_ it wasn't safe? What were you expecting?" Richard asked him not expecting an answer. He just had to get it out. Owen stared at him, trying to be sympathetic. He had no idea. Owen literally didn't remember anything. Not. One. Thing. Why would he go down into a hole? Did he know? Did Cristina tell him? He couldn't remember.

"Hunt you have to promise to be more careful. One day I'm going to retire and I need you to take over. I can't have you running off and putting yourself in life threatening situations!"

Owen half smiled. A little shocked that Richard even was saying these things to him. Him? Chief of Surgery? No...Bailey was supposed to be...she was the favourite...He shrugged finally.

"You promise me!" Richard said sternly. Owen nodded.

"Good! Now I have a wife to get home to! I'll see you tomorrow." Richard exclaimed. And with that, he left.

Over the coming months, Owen started some rehab. He was also starting to get well enough for them to fix his larynx, which was good news for him. He needed his voice back. Writing his thoughts was always difficult. Especially when he would forget how to spell words.

They finally booked him into an OR a week later.

Mark repaired it and sowed him up.

Cristina planted herself in the chair next to his bed, waiting for him to wake up from his surgery.

_God this better have fucking worked..._ Cristina thought to herself.

When he did finally wake up, he smiled when he noticed her sitting there.

"...Hey..." He whispered quietly.

Cristina smiled back. "Hey yourself." She replied happily.

The next day Cristina was in full force. She had cards and pictures and books scattered everywhere. Now was the time to finally see where his brain was at. Sure they had been scanning and checking for bleeding and things but now he could actually talk.

"What is this?" She asked him, holding up a picture of an air plane.

Owen stared at it. "...air plane."

"This?" Cristina asked again, holding up a picture of a tree.

"...trree." He replied.

"...car.."

"..aam..bu...lllance..."

"ddog..."

"hou..se. House."

Cristina tried her best to hide her frown as she listened to her once very articulate husband stumble and stutter over his words.

"What rank were you in the army?" She asked him.

Owen's brow furrowed. "Army...I...was in the...arrmy...Oh yes. Right. Uh...soldier?"

"That's not a rank honey. You were a soldier though. You were a Major."

"Oh."

"What do we live in?"

"A house!"

"Yes but what kind?"

Owen thought. "I...I dont know! I DONT KNOW!" He said getting frustrated at himself.

"A firehouse." Cristina tried to remain calm.

"I'm...sorry. I'm not..."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. How about some math?"

"Okay..."

"What's 5+2?"

"7!"

"Yes!" Cristina replied a little too enthusiastically.

Owen smiled.

"What's 6x8?"

Owen stared at his hands.

He knew he only had 5 fingers. Plus one...that was 6...times 8? 8 times...

"Do you know?" She asked gently.

"I...No."

"That's alright. You know what? That's enough for today. I'll go and put this stuff away and I'll be right back."

"Okay." Owen said cheerfully.

Cristina left the room and ran down the hall. She ran as fast as she could and down the stairs and into a familiar place.

She stood over the vent and waited. The hot air blew up her scrubs and tousled her long black locks. Tears streamed down her face as she realized her husband was brain damaged. Cristina leaned against one of the walls and collapsed in a heap. She couldn't believe it. Why did this have to happen to them? Everything was going great again! They were finally going to have this life and now...she wondered how capable he would be of taking care of himself. Of their unborn child...

Cristina shook her head.

_It's got to be temporary. _She thought to herself. _Has to be!_

She wiped her tears away and got up. She stood over the vent one more time and waited.

The hot air blasted up her scrubs once again and calmed her down.

Cristina left the room and headed upstairs towards his room.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Owen laid in his bed and wondered how long she was going to be. She must be frustrated with him. He was frustrated with himself. Everything was still there..it was just...harder to get to. Owen was annoyed and it was clear something was wrong. No wonder it took him ages to even get through his book.

Cristina finally returned to the room and crawled on the bed next to him. They put their arms around each other and fell asleep.

She woke up an hour later and got up. Owen was still asleep so Cristina shut the door quietly and headed down the hall.

"Derek!" Cristina called when she saw him talking to one of the nurses.

Derek turned towards her. "What is it Cristina?"

"It's Owen...I think...now that he can talk...I think he's got some brain damage."

"Are you sure? How severe?" He asked.

"Well...he's having trouble finding his words. I mean I think he knows them but he can't speak very well. His math skills are mediocre. He knows who we all are though. Can you do something? Can you fix him?" Cristina pleaded.

Derek looked at her sadly. "I'm going to do everything I can."

Cristina knew he would. She trusted him, especially with her husband. She dug into her pocket of her scrubs and slipped her wedding ring on. She always had it with her but now she felt like she needed a little strength. Cristina stared down at it. She remembered when Owen had given it to her, how he had promised she wouldn't be alone and how he would always be there to support her no matter what. And he had.

The least she could do is be there for him.


	5. Chapter 5 What if this doesn't get fixed

**A/n: OH guys...It's been a while. The show is a real downer lately and it's been hard to write. Not that this particular chapter is terribly uplifting but at least it's new. I hope you're all still there and willing to read this. At any rate, thank you and hope you like.**

**Chapter 5 – What if this doesn't get fixed?**

"Now I think it would be a good idea if you started to walk today okay? You should stretch your legs Owen." Cristina said talking slowly, as if she was speaking to a child.

Owen stared at her, slightly miffed.

"Crrrisstina. Iiim not stupid." Owen replied to her from the bed. He looked at her sadly.

"Sorry..." She replied. Cristina just didn't know how to talk to him. She wasn't sure how much he understood and it didn't help that he always seemed to have this confused expression on his face.

"Ii...kkknow...I..am..a litttle damaged but I'm..still...me." Owen said, carefully choosing his words to get his point across.

Cristina wasn't sure. He did seem the same but...she just wasn't sure and she wasn't about to get her hopes up so soon.

Cristina and the physio guy helped Owen out of bed. He stood on shaky legs for the first time in months. Owen looked at Cristina and she smiled at him. He smiled back and sat down again. They stood him up again.

"Alright. How do you feel about taking a couple steps?" The man asked him.

"Okkay." Owen replied.

Owen concentrated very hard on moving his legs forward. He managed to take several steps before having to stop and rest. Owen pushed himself until he was absolutely exhausted. He was sick of being sick and weak. He was sick of it all. The least he could do was try to walk. Owen was grateful he had his voice back though. Living without speech for a month hadn't been easy.

He collapsed into bed and immediately wanted to sleep.

"Wow you really ploughed through that!" Cristina said, impressed.

"I'm exhau...sted." He replied with his eyes closed.

"Maybe you should take it easy next time." Cristina soothed.

"Nnnnooo. I...rrefuuse...too bbbe trapped iin this beed any longer." Owen replied carefully and firmly.

"Owen." Cristina said sighing. "If you push yourself too hard you're going to hurt yourself."

Owen kept his eyes closed and nodded his head.

She crawled onto the bed and put her arms around him. He reciprocated the gesture and held her close. "So we're going to be parents." Cristina started.

"Weee aarre..."Owen replied happily.

"How do you want to do this? I don't want us both off work at the same time." Cristina said.

Owen thought. "Wweeellll...I cccaan ttake some ttime. I meaan we ddont e..ven knnow iff I ccan oppperate or wwhat so I could...stay...at...home." Owen was proud of himself right then. Sure he didn't like the idea of maybe never being able to operate ever again but at least he just about spoke normally despite the pauses between each word.

Cristina frowned slightly. "Let's...just assume that you'll be fine. I'll take some time and then you can. You know? Let's talk about that later. How about names?"

"I'm...nnot sure... Wwhat...if I...can't..take..care..of them?" Owen looked at her sadly.

"Owen! You can't think like that! Okay? Now just lay here with me." Cristina urged.

Owen sighed. What if...

He pushed the thoughts from his head and fell asleep with his wife in his arms.

Over the coming weeks he continued his therapy both physical and mental. Owen also started going to see a Speech therapist. Anything to help him live normally. He was absolutely relieved once he was released from the hospital.

Owen could finally go home. Cristina drove him home. He slowly got himself out of the truck and walked inside. Owen stared up at the stairs. It looked like fucking Everest. Cristina noticed his discomfort.

"Just...take it slow." She soothed.

Owen nodded at her and slowly ascended the stairs. Every step was a struggle. Step after step. He was exhausted after that but he knew it was worth it. Owen dragged his suitcase into their room and walked back out and to the couch where he collapsed.

"Do you want anything honey?" Cristina asked him. She stood there with a look of concern on her face.

"No...No I'm...fine." Owen replied. He didn't want her to take care of him. Owen felt bad. He didn't like the fact that he would need to depend on her for a while. Owen was an independent guy and he never liked asking for help.

Over the next several days, Cristina stayed home with him. Doubt deepened in her mind. It was clear to her that he needed more help that he was letting on. Cristina stared at her husband who was day dreaming. Her worried expression was no secret. Owen was having trouble with the simplest tasks and it bothered her. He'd forget words, use different ones, forget to eat, if she asked him to find something, he couldn't. The only thing that saved the both of them was that he still had his catheter in. Cristina couldn't even fathom the idea of him having an accident. She shook the idea from her mind and turned her attention on her cellphone. Her and Meredith were texting back and forth.

Cristina waited until Owen had his nap when she called Meredith and told her to come over immediately. Meredith rushed over to the firehouse. "How's it going?" Meredith asked, concerned clear in her voice. This whole situation was worrying.

"Mer...I don't know if I can do this." Cristina said tiredly.

"What...what do you mean?" Meredith whispered, slightly confused.

"I mean...here I am taking care of him constantly. He can't take care of himself Mer. He can't!" Cristina whispered back.

"I'm just it's just temporary. He's only been home for a little while." Meredith replied. She couldn't stand seeing her person so upset.

"What if he doesn't get better? WHAT IF?" Cristina replied frantically. "I can't go to work. What if he gets out the door and gets lost or what if he tries to cook something? All these things Meredith..."

"Cristina! You can't think like this! Let's just take this one step at a time. We'll take him to see Derek and see what's going on. If it isn't temporary, then we'll look at options..." Meredith tried hard not to frown too much. This reminded her a little bit of what she had dealt with when her own mother was first starting to have issues.

"What do you mean options? You mean like putting him in a nursing home?" Cristina snapped back. Deep inside, Cristina had been thinking it. What if...

Owen laid in bed and listened to Cristina and Meredith talking about him. He had been worried about this whole thing too. And they were right. What if he didn't get better? Maybe he could give up his dreams. He would certainty make new friends. He wondered if he should start researching places now. Maybe some place nice. Owen had money saved up, he could afford it. He had completely pushed Cristina out of his mind at the moment. Owen knew the moment he thought about how they couldn't be together he would fall apart and none of this would be okay.

"Maybe I should bring his mother into this..."

"She doesn't know?" Meredith said slightly shocked. She assumed Owen had a decent relationship with his mother.

"No she knows about it. I told her I could handle it but now I'm not so sure..."

"Cristina! Call her. She can watch him while your working."

Cristina put her head in her hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Meredith hugged her person tightly and waited for her to feel a little better. Finally, Cristina calmed down enough to phone his mother. "Julie...it's Cristina...Listen...No not great..Could you stay at the house for a little while? I know it's a lot to ask but..."

"Cristina." Owen's mother cut her off. "I am always happy to help. You should know this by now. I know you two are going through a lot right now and I'm happy to be there for you two."

"I just didn't.."

"Didn't what? Didn't want to impose? Nonsense! I'll be there tomorrow."

"Thank you. This really means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it dear. Now dry your eyes. You sound upset. It's going to be alright."

How she even knew that Cristina was upset was a mystery but she was a mother and they usually had good intuition.

"Oh she's coming tomorrow." Cristina said with relief in her voice. Meredith smiled. "See? Now you don't have to worry. Now come on." She guided Cristina to the couch and handed her some tea. Cristina drank from the cup, letting the hot liquid calm her nerves.

Owen dragged himself from the bed and pretended to be oblivious to what he had heard. "Whaaat...'s...going on...laaadies..?" He asked them as lightly as he could.

"Oh nothing dear. Why don't you sit down and I'll get you something." Cristina offered.

"No...Nno...I'll gget it.." Owen replied as he walked slowly into the kitchen. He stopped mid-step for a moment.

"You're getting a drink honey." Cristina called to him.

"Oh...rigght..." Owen replied as he opened the fridge. He grabbed the juice and set it on the counter. Owen stared to pour the juice. It took him a moment before he realize he hadn't gotten a glass out. He swore and wiped up his mess. He grabbed a glass and carefully poured some of the juice into it. Owen was frustrated. He knew he shouldn't be over something so trivial but with everything that had been doing on and with what Cristina and Meredith were saying it was becoming so clear to him that he couldn't take care of himself. He was angry. Angry that saving two lives meant giving up his. Owen stared down at his shaky hands and his frown deepened.

Cristina looked over at Owen. She knew he was frustrated with himself. Cristina wished there was some way she could fix him but what could she do besides just be there?

The next day Cristina busily rushed around the firehouse grabbing her things she needed to take to work. She was finally heading back to work after her extended time away. Owen's mother appeared several minutes later. Cristina sighed with relief. "Hey Julie." She called from the kitchen. "Hello dear." Julie replied as she headed towards her son who was sitting on the couch watching Cristina. "Hello honey. How are you?" She asked him calmly.

"I'm...okay." Owen replied as he turned his head towards her.

"Alright." She replied, unconvinced. Julie got up from the couch and headed over to Cristina.

"Okay." Cristina started. His medications are over there. You'll have to get him to eat because sometimes he forgets to. Make sure he doesn't cook on the stove or anything. Owen gets too frustrated by it. If you go anywhere, you might want to take him with you. Make sure you drive." Cristina rambled off a list of things for her. Julie knew her son was injured but actually hearing it made it worse. She became increasingly worried.

"Thanks dear. Now go to work!" Julie commanded, shooing Cristina away.

Cristina nodded. "Thank you Julie! Really! Thank you so much! I'll call at noon."

"You're welcome Cristina. Now go!"

And with that, Cristina headed out the door.

Julie turned her attention back on her son.

"You want anything Owen?" She asked him kindly.

"Nno...I'm...fine." He replied. Owen knew full well she was going to hover over him the entire day and he wasn't looking forward to it. He wasn't the type that enjoyed being coddled...or at least very much. Owen preferred to take care of himself if he could help it.

"So when is your appointment with Dr Shepherd?" Julie asked him lightly.

Owen looked over at her and thought. "I...think..it's...on tthe cal...ender."

"Is this to check how your progress is?"

"Yyyyess...heee neeeds to check..for..any..subderial bleeding." Owen replied. He started telling her all about it. Owen noticed her eyes glazing over and chuckled. "Ssorry..."

"That's fine." His mother replied smiling at her son. It was nice to know for sure that he was still her son despite some of his current disabilities.

It was an odd experience taking care of her son after so many years of him doing it to her.

"I...wish..there wwas some...thing I...could..do for..you. You've been...so...helpful." Owen said turning and looking at his mum, smiling.

She smiled at her son. "Thanks Owen. No right now all I want you to do is sit with me." Owen walked over to her carefully and sat next to her.

They watched tv together in silence for a little while when Julie broke the silence. "So you two are pregnant."

"Yes." Owen replied turning his head towards her. He didn't have a terribly happy expression on his face which was puzzling.

"Are you...happy about it?" Julie asked him, slightly concerned. She knew that Owen had always wanted to be a father and she assumed that he would be rambling on about it non-stop.

"...Yes...but...I..don't...know if I...will...eeven...be able..to..take..ccare of them." Owen replied sadly. The possibility of not being there for his child was upsetting. He didn't like the idea of Cristina raising their child by herself. Sure he could see them but he couldn't be alone with them. No way.

Julie's frown deepened at her son's words. "Oh Owen...you can't think like that. You can't have that mindset or it'll eat you alive. I was doing some research..."

"Oh mum..." Owen said cutting her off. She was always googling things and asking him tons of medical questions.

"I was going some research.." She started again. ", and I was reading that sometimes people can completely recover from a traumatic brain injury."

"Yeaah...bbut..that...rarely...hhappens..most..ccases, people are...perman...ently disabled...in..some way." Owen replied putting his head in his hands.

Julie hit his arm. "Owen Alexander Cody Hunt. You will not have such negative thoughts. I forbid it. Now turn your frown upside down!" She demanded.

Owen laughed. "Oh...you..know...just what..to...ssay."

"I know. I'm your mother. Now relax. I'm going to start making some lunch. And no I don't need help." Julie called from the kitchen.

He got up from the couch and walked over to her anyway. Owen sat on the other side of the island and watched her cook. Part way through, Owen's cellphone rang. "Hey Cristina." He said happily into the phone.

"Hey Owen!" She replied cheerfully. It was nice to hear him speak normally. "How are you?"

"Oh...fine. Mum is...just...making..lunch." He replied into the phone.

"Good. Can I speak to her?" Cristina asked.

Owen handed the phone over to her and Julie took it. "Hello Dear." She said into the phone.

"How's he doing?" Cristina ask, concern clear in her voice.

Julie carefully left the room.

Owen watched her leave the room to go and talk about him with Cristina. He shook his head and stared down at the medical book that was in front of him. Owen figured he would keep himself up to date even if he couldn't work anymore. Surgery was still his love.

Julie headed into the bathroom and shut the door.

"He's...doing alright..." Julie began. "Cristina..."

"What? What is it? Did he get confused about something? Owen fought with the dishwasher yesterday and just about broke all the plates." Cristina said sadly.

"Shit.."

"Julie!" Cristina said shocked. She had no idea Owen's mum had a mouth on her.

"I know but goodness. He's never had such a temper."

"I know...it's startling. Sure he's had his issues since the war but he's been fine ever since."

"When was the last time he was out of the house?"

Cristina thought for a moment.

"Well..." She began hesitantly. Cristina knew his mother wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

"He hasn't left since he got back has he?" Julie guessed.

"Well...no. I just..." Cristina started.

"Cristina. I know but I think it would do him a world of good."

Cristina thought about it nervously. All she wanted to do was protect him from the world. She felt like it would be too overwhelming for him. Owen kept telling her he was still him but whether it was the pregnancy hormones or what but she was filled with more nervous energy. "I don't know..." Cristina paced the on call room.

"Why don't we do it tomorrow? You're off right?" Julie asked her.

"Yes...Okay..."

"Cristina...It's going to be alright. You have done such a fantastic job with him so far and he really and truly appreciates it. I'm so proud of you."

Cristina smiled and teared up a bit. "Thanks Julie.."


	6. Chapter 6 Drop In The Ocean

A/n: Omg you guys. I'm beyond sorry for not updating this in AGES. The show is...a bit of a soul sucker these days and it's hard to find inspiration. Hopefully this kind of makes up for it. At any rate, enjoy! :D

Chapter 6 – Drop In The Ocean

Cristina came home later that evening. "Hey Honey." She said smiling as Owen approached her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "Glad..you're...home."

"Me too." She replied happily. She kissed him back several times and released him. "Thanks Julie." Cristina said smiling as she walked over to her. Julie hugged Cristina. "You want to stay?" Cristina offered her. Owen headed into the bathroom.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I would love that. I haven't seen you in a while...no idea what we're going to eat but.."

"I know. Which is why I made some stew. Owen tells me you make a mean bowl of cereal."

Cristina smirked a little bit. "Owen seems to like it."

Julie laughed. "I bet. He's not terribly fussy that way. Never has been you know? Especially when he was a baby. He just ate whatever I gave him. Very bizarre considering his sister was just about the fussiest thing."

Cristina smiled as she listened to Owen's mum regale her with stories about him as a baby. "He had the hugest eyes. Like I'd never seen eyes that big before. His dad wanted to call him Eyes instead of Owen. It was definitely a nickname that stuck."

Cristina giggled. "My goodness. Any other cute nicknames I should know about?"

"Hey! Are..you...two..ttalking..about..me?" Owen asked as he left the bathroom.

"Of course honey!" Cristina replied brightly.

Owen rolled his eyes at her. "Great...I..hope it..wasn't..too..bad."

"No. Just your giant baby eyes." Cristina replied amused.

Owen shook his head and sat next to her. Cristina kissed the side of his head. He turned his head towards her and kissed her back.

"His sister used to call him Oonie. It was adorable. She still does sometimes." Julie continued.

"Awwwh!" Cristina replied happily. "That's adorable! You're mum should come here more often!"

Owen turned a nice shade of pink.

"Tthanks..."

"Oh Owen honey." His mum said smiling at him.

Cristina came to the startling realization that Owen's mum loved her. Mothers weren't her thing, yet with his mum, it was such a natural relationship. Cristina figured it occurred because she thought of Owen as her soul mate. It only seemed right for her to get along with Julie she figured.

Cristina looked over at Owen who was sitting next to her. He carried himself different. He was hesitant and weary of the world and it upset her a little bit. She was particularly worried about the idea of him leaving the firehouse. Cristina realized what a thought that was. Owen had always been a capable strong person and she shook her head at herself.

Owen hadn't said anything about it, not that he was keen on communicating about his problems. He always felt like they were a burden...and they were but he felt as though telling her would also burden her and that was the last thing he wanted.

The next day, Owen's mum came over and the three of them got ready to go out for a walk in the park. Owen hadn't been out of the firehouse since he'd gotten out of the hospital and his mum figured a little sun would do him some good.

Owen glanced nervously over at Cristina as they put their coats on. She stared back at him with a bit of nervousness in her eyes as well. They both took a breath and Cristina took his hand as they descended the stairs, helping him down as his legs were still a little shaky. This was one of the things Owen didn't care about. He didn't mind walking was difficult. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't in a wheelchair and that was great. Unfortunately that nagging feeling in the back of his mind wasn't something great. That thought that he wouldn't fully recover and he wouldn't be able to operate again. He'd dreamt about it last night. About being shipped off to some home where he would live out the rest of his days. About being away from Cristina. Owen knew it could be way worse. Some people can't even separate what reality they were in. It didn't make it any better regardless.

They started up the street. Owen breathed in the fresh air. He'd missed it terribly. Cristina squeezed his hand and brought him back into reality. He turned his head towards her and smiled. She smiled back. They walked into the park and found a place to sit. Owen stared out at the ocean lost, once again, in his thoughts while Cristina and Julie talked adamantly about Cristina's medical future.

"Yeah well I just have to pass my Medical boards and then I can try for the Cardio fellowship at the hospital."

"You're not going to look at other hospitals?" She asked her.

"Oh I am. I've got some offers from Mayo and Stanford and UCLA. I'm just going to see where it goes, considering the baby and everything."

"Good point."

Cristina glanced over at Owen who had been silent for a while. She watched him stare into the distance, clearly he had a million things on his mind.

"Owen?" She said trying to break him out of his trance.

Owen shook his head and looked at Cristina. "Yeah? ...ssoorry..."

"Are you alright?" Cristina asked him worriedly.

Owen looked at her with worry in his eyes. It was clear he wasn't in the least.

"Yyeah...I'm...fine." Owen lied as he turned his attention back on the ocean in front of him.

He wasn't fine. He felt like he never would be.

Cristina saw right through his lie to her. His eyes always gave him away and she could tell he was hurting. She certainly didn't blame him. Here was a guy who was fiercely independent and found himself in a situation where he couldn't take care of himself. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if she had been in his situation.

His appointment with Derek was tomorrow and Owen was slightly nervous about it, not sure of what the outcome would be. He hoped for good news because he needed to get better, he had to. Thinking of the alternative was slowly tearing him apart.

They headed back to the firehouse in comfortable silence.

The next day was the big day. Owen could finally find out the status of his condition and was slightly hopeful that Derek would give him good news. He seriously needed a win right now after everything.

Owen got dressed by himself that morning, determined that he could do it without Cristina's help. She lingered nearby in case he couldn't even though she knew he would be too proud to admit otherwise. His hands shook slightly as he picked up his jeans. This was going to be the hard part, slipping them over each leg, grasping the zipper, pulling it up and finally buttoning the button. All seemingly easy tasks...at least for other people. Owen had to have a plan of action for this. He decided sitting was the best thing to do for this because he doubted he had the balance to just stand there on one leg. Owen leaned over and put one of his legs through the whole. So far so good. It took some finagling but he managed to get his other leg through. Owen stopped for a moment and took a breath. He pulled up the jeans over his hips and silently congratulated himself for being able to do that.

The zipper and button were next. Owen knew Cristina was watching him. She was waiting for something. Some sort of frustration to appear on his face so she could help him. His hands shook as he tried to steady them. He had to shake his hands several times before being able to grasp the zipper in his hand. Surprisingly it only took two tries before he managed to zip them up. And now, the worst. Owen could not for the life of him manage buttons. They were beyond his expertise and he wasn't sure he'd be able to do this. Owen took the button in one hand and took the side with the hole in the other. His hands shook as he brought the two of them together. Owen's eye brows furrowed as he concentrated on the action. It was funny to think an action that he'd done a billion times over before was something that felt new again. It felt like he was in kindergarten and he was playing with the tools that help children learn how to zip zippers and button buttons. It was frustrating. Every try. He'd do it over and over again and get more and more frustrated as it went on.

Cristina watched him sorrowfully until finally she couldn't take it anymore. "OWEN!" She shouted as she ran over to him. Owen looked up at her. " I cccan..do this." He said in a frustrated voice. Cristina sighed. "No you can't." And with that, she buttoned them up for him. Owen put his head in his hands. He felt so defeated. He felt like a moron. Owen felt weak.

"It's okay." Cristina reassured. She put her hand on the side of his face and smiled. "Don't worry about it. You're not going to be like this forever." At least that's what she hoped for. She couldn't bare the idea that Owen would be stuck that way forever. Cristina had tried to deal with that idea for a while but actually seeing him struggle with his pants sort of solidified her worries.

He picked up his t-shirt next. Owen figured he would take it slow now and at least not wear one with buttons on it. He carefully slipped it over his head and managed to get it on without incidence. At least he hadn't failed on that.

They got into Owen's truck and Cristina drove them to the hospital. It was quiet. The radio and the stereo were off and neither of them were saying anything. The energy in the cab was nervousness. Finally as they reached a parking spot, Cristina turned and looked at him. "Owen." She said calmly. He turned his head towards her and looked her in the eyes. "Whatever happens. Happens. Okay? We're going to get through this. We are going to be okay. You are going to be okay." Cristina said firmly. She wanted him to believe the world wasn't ending and that he'd recover. As they got out, Cristina grasped his hand, reassuring him and also herself. This appointment was going to be difficult. It was pretty much going to solidify whether he could be a doctor or not. Owen appreciated her concern and squeezed her hand back. They headed inside. Some people stared at him. Most hadn't seen him since he'd gotten out of the hospital and were surprised that he was there. Owen didn't look at anyone as he normally did. Normally, he'd smile and even talk to them but now, he couldn't. He could barely look at anyone and the only thing he wanted to do was leave. Immediately.

They headed over to Neuro where Derek was waiting. He smiled warmly at them as they approached. "Hey!" He said brightly. "Now let's take a look Owen. How are you feeling?" He asked. "I...I gguess I feel..okay." Owen replied smiling slightly at him. He wasn't sure what else to say. He couldn't just tell him that he felt awful. That wasn't the point. Derek did a full neuro exam on him and got him a CT. Cristina was standing in the room with Derek. He hadn't even bothered to tell her she wasn't allowed because she was family because he knew better than to mess with her.

Derek looked over Owen's scans and sighed. Cristina looked at the scans and back at Derek and at the scans and back at Derek. "SERIOUSLY?" She cried as she looked at him. Derek was afraid of that. Owen could see them both shouting at each other and frowned. He got out of the CT and they headed into an exam room.

"Okay. Basically. It's inconclusive." Derek said frowning at them. He could tell Owen wasn't sure what to say or to feel.

"Wwhat?" Owen spat out. "Aaare...yyou ssaying ttthat we jjust hhave ttto waait and find out?" This wasn't happening. How could this...

"This is a good thing. It means you aren't getting worse and you won't get worse." Derek tried to reason with him. This was good.

"Itt's good? THHIS IIS GOOD? Tttthis isss...I cccan't llive likke this! Hhow aam II suupposed to be a pparent.." Owen slowed his speech down. "when...I..ccan't...take...care...of...my...self!"

"I know you're frustrated Owen but-" Derek started to say.

"I...aaam beyoond frrustrated!" Owen shouted. What if he never got better? He would lose his job. He'd lose his life! He'd probably lose Cristina!

"Owen! OWEN! Look at me! This is not the end of the world. It isn't. You need to calm down and breath." Derek said trying to reassure him that it was alright. That sometimes you were dealt a bad hand but it didn't mean he was going to lose. He glanced over at Cristina who was sitting there quietly. She as trying to let this all sink in and was trying to make the results of the tests okay to her.

They both looked at each other sadly and tried smiling at one another. Cristina got up from her chair and walked over to him and took his hand. Owen smiled a bit and squeezed it. Derek noticed they were having a moment and left the room. Cristina looked up at Owen and put his hand on her slightly distended stomach. Through all of the drama, he'd forgotten to be happy about the pregnancy. He'd been too worried to connect with it in fear that he wouldn't ever get better and couldn't take care of it.

"Hey." Cristina said looking at him in the eyes.

Owen looked back at her. "Hi." He replied staring at her right in the eyes.

"This is not the worst thing in the world. We're going to get through this Owen." Cristina said reasurring him.

They had to. They were Cristina and Owen. That's what they did. They over came so much and they'll be damned to be defeated by this trauma.


	7. Chapter 7 I just want normalcy

A/n: omg you guise I don't even have words other than I hope someone reads this. Let me just talk about how page 2 and page 3 were written months apart.

Chapter 7 – I just want some sort of sense of normalcy

As they headed out of the unit, Owen felt compelled to indulge his surgical needs. "Do...yyyou mind?" Owen asked Cristina before he headed over to the gallery to watch the surgery that was about to take place. A small smile spread across of her face. "No. Not at all." She took his hand and they headed into the gallery. Owen stared down at Dr Bailey and Meredith who were about to perform an appendectomy. Before Owen would have gladly passed on such a boring procedure but he hadn't operated in over a month and the only thing he wanted was to be down there. He settled with watching them intently. Bailey looked up at the gallery briefly and noticed Owen sitting there staring down at them. She gave a small wave and looked back down and began.

Owen watched her intently. He longed to be able to do that again. Watching her cut and sew. He sat there and watched the entire procedure. Cristina was uninterested in it but was happy that Owen looked happy. He turned and looked at her afterwards with a small smile on his face. "Wow." He managed to say clearly. "I mmissed...tthat." Cristina smiled at him and Owen made a move to get up. She grabbed his hand and they left the gallery.

Over the next couple of weeks, Cristina noticed he was walking a lot better than he had been. Owen was proud of his progress but his speech and his shaky hands hadn't gotten better. Not that they had gotten worse but it was still frustrating to him when he wanted to have a lengthy conversation with her and couldn't really. He just wanted to get his words out but he could barely. Cristina was unbelievably patient with him about it but he would swear at himself for it. He was still having some trouble with reasoning and his memory but at the end of the day, he wasn't worse. That's what Cristina kept telling herself. That he wasn't worse. That she could raise a child with him. That it would be alright.

Owen was, however, looking forward to the ultrasound appointment. That was one thing that he could be happy about. Owen decided he'd try his hardest to do so.

Meredith was becoming increasingly worried. She didn't understand how Cristina could just...deal. How she was just okay with everything that was going on and that she thought she could take care of Owen all the time. Meredith decided she would need to intervene soon. She had to fix this situation and make sure her person was okay. "Cristina.." Meredith said tentatively as she approached Cristina who was leaning against one of the nurses stations desks scribbling on a chart. She was just about to head off to her appointment. Cristina looked up at her. "What?" She asked her closing the chart and putting in the pile with the others. "I think...I think we need to talk about you and Owen." Cristina had known this was coming. She'd been preparing for it. "Meredith..." Cristina said sighing a bit. "I'm not in the mood right now. I've got my appointment to get to...We'll talk after.." She added, knowing at some point she would have to talk to her person who was just being way too overprotective.

Cristina headed towards OB and caught sight of Owen who had been brought there by his mum. He smiled when he saw her and she smiled back. "Hey." She said leaning over and kissing him. "Hey." He replied happily. The couple headed into the exam room with Julie and waited.

The OB came in and smiled at them. "Chief. Dr Yang." She said brightly. Cristina grasped Owen's hand as they put some of the cold gel on Cristina's slightly distended stomach. She put the device on her stomach and moved it around. Owen and Cristina stared transfixed on the screen. There on the black and white monitor was their little baby. They both smiled and looked at each other, a few tears escaping their eyes. Even after all of the worry and the drama, they still had their unborn child and that was something to be thankful for.

Owen leaned down and kissed Cristina several times. He was so overjoyed and overwhelmed by it all. Cristina was happy. She never thought that she would ever want this. Cristina Yang was not supposed to be a mother but here she was staring at the inside of her uterus and it wasn't empty...and she was elated about it. A little piece of her and Owen.

They stared at the monitor a little longer before finally wiping the gel off Cristina's stomach and putting her shirt down. Owen grinned at Cristina and she grinned back. For a moment, it was all forgotten. All of it. For a moment they were just new parents who had seen their child for the first time and they could just be in the moment together.

For a moment.

Then they remembered where they were and why they were there.

Cristina saw Meredith lingering in the doorway and turned to Owen. "Ive got to go. Julie. Nice seeing you." She said hastily as she left the room. Owen frowned as he watched her leave with Meredith.

Owen was puzzled but said nothing. He sat there quietly and wondered what now.

Cristina headed off with Meredith who dragged her into an on-call room.

"I cannot believe I let you do this!" Meredith practically screamed as the door closed and they were alone.

"What do you mean?" Cristina asked angrily. Not that she didn't know what was going on here but she wanted to make sure she knew exactly what it was that was bothering her.

"That...that you're pregnant..with Owen's child! I can't believe you! That's not the Cristina I know! Why...Why would you do this to yourself?" Meredith asked her. How could she have made such a rash decision at a time like this.

"Didn't...didn't we already fight about this Mer?" Cristina snapped back. She knew Meredith hadn't been a fan of Owen but this was bad.

"We did..except it was pointless because you went along with it. What are you going to do when the kid's born Cristina? You'll have two children to take care of! You think he'll be able to help you at all? You think you can leave him alone with the baby?" Meredith yelled. It all came tumbling out. About how stupid she thought this was and about how she basically lumped Owen in the same category as their soon to be born child.

Cristina was silent. Meredith wondered if she was speechless. She had said some pretty shocking things but she was just looking out for her. She had Cristina's best interests at heart. She really did.

But Cristina wasn't speechless. She was thinking. She was formulating a reply.

And she was pissed.

"MEREDITH! DONT YOU EVER ever say that about Owen! EVER! I can't...I can't believe you think you can just say whatever you want and think that I'll just go along with it! I won't! I love him and he loves me and you need to accept that there is always going to be a me and Owen. He is here to stay with me and that's that." Cristina was furious with her. She was supposed to be her person for fuck sake.

"Cristina!" Meredith snapped back. "

"Don't you Cristina me!" She screamed back. Cristina walked over to the door and swung it open and left. She could NOT believe everything that Meredith had said. Why couldn't she be supportive for once? It was extremely irritating. Cristina practically stomped down the hallway towards where Owen and his mother had been. "Sorry..." She said, running a hand through her hair. Owen noticed her expression and wondered what had happened. He suspected Meredith might have had something to do with it and he didn't blame her. "Coming?" She asked, plastering some sort of smile on her face. Owen nodded and got up, walking with her and his Mum. "Why don't we get some lunch?" She suggested to them. Owen considered that and agreed. Cristina smiled despite her argument with Meredith some moments ago. Getting out and about was a good thing.

They left the hospital and drove a little ways to a restaurant that they all liked. Owen slowly got out of the car and followed them inside. He was decidedly quiet as they got seated and poured over the menu. Owen carefully read each line, trying to take it in. He finally decided on something and set the menu down, hoping he wouldn't forget in the time it took for their server to take their order. Cristina reached next to her and took his hand in hers. The server came by and smiled at them. "What's everyone having?" She asked brightly, looking at each of them. "I'll have the caesar chicken salad." His mother said smiling, setting her menu down by the edge of the table. Cristina ordered a burger and fries. Owen frowned a moment before picking his menu up again. "I...wwould llike the bburger bbut...with...cheese." He finally managed to say. Owen noticed the look he'd gotten from the server but chose to ignore it. He already pitted himself and he didn't need her doing it too. Cristina excused herself momentarily and left Owen and his Mum alone. Julie cleared her throat and looked at her son. "Owen...I...I know that this is difficult for you. I understand that completely but you need to cheer up. You need to cheer up for yourself and for Cristina. It's taking a serious toll on her and soon you'll have that little baby and you need to be present..." Julie was practically pleading with her son to show some light in his eyes again. She hated seeing him only half there. Owen's Mum couldn't imagine what he was going through but life had to move forward regardless. He considered her words and bit his lip. "Mmum...I...wwant..nnothing moore...than...to...be happy aagain. I...I thhink seeing our..child...on that..screen..helped. I'm trying...I'm...just..wworried aabout mmy recovery." She nodded at her son as he struggled to speak. "I know you do. I'm just worried about you. I hate seeing you this way. I want my son back." Some tears escaped her eyes and Owen extended a shaky hand and wiped them away. "Mum..." Just then Cristina came back, noticing the moment, raised her eyebrows. "Did...I interrupt something?" She asked, pulling a chair out and sitting down. "No." Julie said cheerfully. "Just a mother getting overly emotional." She said waving her hand in dismissal of her own feelings.

GAGAGAGAGAAGAG

Cristina pushed her chair from the table and stood up, rubbing the back of Owen's neck gently before heading into the bathroom. Her phone had been vibrating like crazy since they'd sat down and she finally couldn't take it anymore. Cristina ripped her phone from her pocket and pressed talk. "WHAT." She said angrily into her phone. "Cristina! I've been trying to reach you for ages! We're not done yet!" "Yes we are Meredith. I don't need to talk to you about Owen or the choices we've made." "What about the one that he doesn't know about? What about the home you want to put him in? I saw the brouchers!" Meredith snapped back at her. "Meredith! I can't even talk right now..we're eating. I have to go." And with that Cristina hung up. She had been trying to figure out a way to bring it up lightly if Owen were not to get better. Listening to Meredith bring it up in their fight had only made the idea more painful.

GAGAGAGAGAAGAG

They finished their meals, chatting quite happily and headed home. Cristina and Julie had been exchanging glances since they'd gotten home, much to Owen's annoyance. "Whhat?" He finally asked. Owen knew they were dancing around something and wanted to know what. Julie looked at Cristina and they exchanged looks once more. Cristina finally sighed and cleared her throat. "Okay...Owen...the thing is...we need to start thinking ahead...about the future...If you don't...get better...mentally..." "You want to put me in a home." Owen finished for her. "...Yes..." She replied hesitantly. He sighed, knowing that this talk had been coming for a while. "And I think we should get your a nurse to look after you while I'm at work.." Owen nodded again, knowing he needed it. He hated the idea but knew he couldn't take care of himself. "So...she's coming tomorrow..." Cristina said, breaking the silence in the room. "Okay..." Was all Owen could say. "Okay...Tthaank you...Ccrristina...rreally. Mum. I rrreally apppreciate you guys...I..I'm sorrrry I hhaven't been myself lately..." "Well if half a city street fell on my head, I might be upset too." Cristina said smirking a bit at her husband. Owen smiled a little at her while his Mum looked slightly shocked Cristina had said that. "Now those places...we don't have to decide anything but just think about it." Julie added to the conversation. They visited a while longer before Julie finally left to give them some privacy. It was clear to her they still had a lot to discuss. She hugged her son tightly and then Cristina before finally leaving them.

"Now come feeble husband. I have a sponge bath waiting for you." Cristina called to him as she was running the bathtub. She walked into the living room and took his hand, laughing at her comment. Cristina led him into the bathroom and hugged him, running her hands through his hair. Owen smiled and rested his head on her shoulder. "Come have a bath with me." She urged, slowly stepping back and slipping her shirt off. Owen smirked. "Okay. Anny eexcuse to see yoou nnaked." They undressed and climbed into the tub, savouring the hot water. "I llove you." Owen said into her ear, kissing the side of her neck. "Love you too babe...when you get better...like when you can add two and two and that..." Owen narrowed his eyes and poked her at that comment. Cristina giggled. "When you can do simple math again, if you still can't speak properly, can I teach our child how to talk?" Owen shook his head at her inappropriate comment. "You're ridiculous and horrible." "I'm loveable and look great naked." Owen nodded in agreement. "True." He had missed this. Missed being intimate with her like this after being so lost in his depression. Breathing felt better and he decided right then and there to hold his head up. Owen decided he was going to get better. He was going to work through all of this crap and finally rid himself of this disability he seemed to have been afflicted with. Owen was at least hoping to regain the rest of his reasoning skills. He wanted to be able to think normally again. The idea of being a surgeon again was honestly something Owen was not thinking of. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to operate again but he would damn well be a good father to that child.


	8. Chapter 8 - Okay let's be friends again

A/n: So I don't know if I have any readers left but if you're there, thanks for waiting so bloody long. Ps this chapter has some sexy time in it. Fair warning.

Chapter 8

Owen had started to work tirelessly with his speech therapist and his physio therapist, trying desperately to get some normal back in his life. Gradually over the course of several weeks, he found he could finally speak without stumbling over his own words. That had been a constant annoyance in his life that was for sure. His brain was still trying to heal itself and it would likely be a while yet but looking at Cristina with her now, swollen belly, was something that motivated him severely.

He poured over the flashcards. There were several different kinds with several different levels. Math, Reading, Spelling Problem solving. And of course, medical ones. When he had first started out, it had been quite unnerving for him to realize how little he remembered. Simple math was terribly difficult and words that he used to know, were foreign. Now he was excelling at a lot of it. Owen was confident in himself that he could do this. His plan was to get through this and start focusing on the medical. He needed to retake his boards again so he could be a doctor again and practice medicine. That was the goal.

The only thing was that his hands still shook. And he couldn't be a surgeon with shaky hands. Owen would spend countless hours practising with the suture kit Cristina had gotten for him. It was very frustrating for him and often times when Cristina would come into the room, she would find it across the living room after Owen had thrown it there. Either that or he'd wake in the middle of the night and try.

"Babe. Maybe you should come to bed now. It's getting late." Cristina said, leaning against the door frame of the bedroom. She was watching Owen hunched over the counter trying to suture up a chicken he'd cut in half. Owen looked up at her, slightly startled that she'd appeared. "I just.." He tried to say before she cut him off. "Owen, come to bed. It'll still be there tomorrow." Owen frowned and sighed a bit but set his work down, washed his hands and put it in the fridge. He walked over to her, rested his hands on the side of her face, and kissed her soft lips. "Okay." Owen finally said and followed her into their bedroom. He laid down next to her and sighed quietly. "I just...want to be able to be me again..." Owen said quietly, unsure if she was listening to him or not. Of course she was. "I know...And you are Owen. You are still you. I know you'll recover. I know it. It's just taking...some time...But look where you are now. You can walk. You can talk. You're thinking clearly. It's coming..." Cristina said patiently. Owen smiled in the dark. She knew just what to say to him to make him feel a little less crappy and he whole heartily appreciated it. "Thanks." He said, continuing to smile. Owen leaned over and kissed her cheek. Cristina turned her head towards him and kissed his lips eagerly, realizing how much she needed this right now. It had been ages since they had made love and she was damn well going to have sex with her husband. Owen kissed her back, equally eager to continue this. He ran a hand through her hair as he started to kiss down her neck. Owen had missed every inch of her. Sure they had bathed together frequently and been intimate that way but they hadn't had sex.

She let out a small moan as Owen left a small bruise on the base of her neck. A little reminder just for her as to what they had done. Owen pushed down the tank top she was wearing and kissed down her chest, slowly heading towards her bare breasts. He took one of her nipples in his mouth and licked and sucked and nipped at it. Cristina arched her back and moaned more, urging him to continue. Owen moved over to the other one and did the same. "Fuck Owen...keep..." She breathed, pushing her tank top down her legs and off onto the floor. Owen kissed down her swollen stomach, stopping above the yoga pants she was wearing and pushed them down until she was just clad in the black panties she was wearing. He rubbed her through her panties, listening to the moans that continued to escape her mouth. "Owen...take...them off..." Cristina breathed, grabbing his hands and placing them on her sides. Owen obeyed and pushed her panties off. She was already fairly wet for him which turned him on more. He slid his tongue between her legs, swirling and nipping her swollen clit. Cristina spread her legs wider as Owen licked her wet cunt. The things that man could do with his tongue was definitely something that she appreciated. She was fairly sure that even if Owen couldn't operate anymore, he could certainly do that! Cristina gasped as Owen inserted one of his fingers in her opening, moving faster and faster. She gripped the sheets underneath her, begging him to keep going, to keep fucking her with his fingers. Owen happily obliged that request and went faster and faster until he felt her climax around his fingers. Cristina cried his name out loudly and laid back down on the bed. She tried to catch her breath as she pulled Owen's head up towards her and gave him a kiss, tasting herself on him. "Babe...don't ever stop doing that." She breathed. Owen smirked. "Okay." Cristina kissed him again and looked down at Owen's noticeable erection. "Looks like you enjoyed that too." She said with a smirk. Owen grinned back at her.

Cristina reached between his legs and grabbed him, causing Owen to let out a small moan. "You like when I touch you?" "Most definitely." Owen replied, continuing to grin at her. She rubbed him through his boxers before reaching her hand inside and grabbing his cock. "Oh..." was all Owen could muster saying as she stroked him gently, up and down. She laid him down on the bed and slipped his boxers down his legs. Cristina stared down at his hardened member and grinned, grabbing it with her hand and stroking him gently. Owen let out a low moan and leaned his head back on his pillow. Cristina admired her husband's body as she stroked him slowly. Sure the long pink scar down his chest and abdomen was an upsetting reminder of what had happened, it was also a reminder that despite that, he had survived and that he had come a long way. She kissed down the scar, Owen watching her intently as she did so, slightly confused that she was doing it but at the same time sort of happy. Even after all of it, she still found him attractive even when he didn't. Cristina's lips finally met his erection and she took it in her mouth. Owen moaned loudly, savouring the sensation of her tongue swirling his tip, her teeth gently grazing his sensitive skin. She grasped him with her hand stroking him up and down as she swirled her tongue. Cristina knew just what drove him wild and judging by the moans and groans he was making, she was right on track. Owen ran a hand through her hair, moaning her name. He involuntarily bucked his hips as she hit just the right spot. "Cristina...I..." Owen breathed. A moment later, he cried out her name and came into her mouth, hard. He leaned back on the bed and tried to catch his breath. Cristina crawled up beside Owen. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, tasting himself on her lips.

"Cristina...this isn't just...the whole after sex happy that I'm feeling right now. You have been so amazing to me this year. I honestly would not be where I am right now if it wasn't for you. I want to make it up to you. I do. And I will. Soon." Owen said, looking at her with his ice blue eyes. Cristina looked back at him. "Thank you. And you don't have to Owen. I'm your wife. I'm supposed to take care of you so let me. Besides, now that you can walk and talk, you can help your fat pregnant wife around the house." Owen grinned at her. "Now get me some cake husband." Cristina commanded. He laughed. "Okay." Owen leaned over and kissed her again before getting up. He headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out the cake that they'd gotten the day before. Owen carefully plated two pieces of cake, careful not to let his shaking hands damper their cake time. He picked up the plates and carried them into the bedroom, each with a fork and handed her a plate. "Thanks!" She said cheerfully, immediately digging into her piece. Owen smiled at her and sat next to her, eating his own. He stopped eating for a moment and turned towards her. "Cristina...I've been thinking. If...If I don't recover from this.." "You will!" She interrupted. "Let me finish. If I don't recover, I'd like to stay home with the baby. If I can't work, at least I can be a parent." "IF you don't..." Cristina said raising a finger at him. "IF. But you will recover so stop it." Owen nodded in agreement and went back to eating his cake. "We need baby stuff." He said suddenly. "I know. And names. You wouldn't just agree to call them kid would you?" Cristina asked, shoving more cake in her mouth. Owen laughed. "No. I mean it would make it easier but people, such as my mother, wouldn't like that." "Pfft Mothers." He shook his head at her comment but smiled. "Thank you for the cake by the way...it's really good." "You're welcome." Owen replied finishing his off. He took her plate and headed back into the kitchen, putting the plates in the dishwasher.

He walked back into the bedroom and laid down next to her. They managed to fall into a deep sleep shortly afterwards.

The next day, Owen spent most of it studying while Cristina was at work. He'd gotten a number of work books with tests at the end of them and had actually passed all of them quite well. It was clear his brain was fixing itself slowly but surely. This was definitely pleasing for Owen. He felt like he'd accomplished a lot and that maybe, one day, he could live normally again. Owen decided that now was the time to look over his medical books. He picked one of the heavy ones, thick with anatomy. Owen opened it up and flipped through it. Thankfully, it felt familiar. This was the stuff that he knew like the back of his hand. After months of recovery, Owen knew this stuff. None of it was foreign to him which was an utter relief. He'd been worried that he would open the book up and have no clue what any of it was.

GAGAGAGAGAAGAG

Meredith spotted Cristina in the hallway. Cristina looked up and saw her. She sighed and walked over to Meredith. "Okay..listen...I know you're just..trying to be there for me and stuff. I get that okay?"Cristina said, looking down at the chart she was holding and back up at her friend. "But I want you to realize that I want this. I want it more than anything and I want...I want my husband to get better and be a doctor again. I want..I need you to be okay with this. I need you to be on my team." Meredith considered what Cristina was saying and sighed. "Okay. I am team Cristina. I just...I was worried and I didn't want you to get all wooed with Owen's sad eyes and forget what you want." She confessed, looking at Cristina. "I was just worried." "He's got really really good sad eyes." "I know..." "You want to get some coffee or some tequila?" Cristina considered that offer and frowned. "Well...I can't have tequila. I don't need our baby having an extra limb...so..coffee it is. But only one." She said in annoyance as she looked down and patted her swollen belly. "I am totally having more than one cup a day once your born. Freaking child." Meredith smirked at her friend. It was interesting to see the change in her from surgical hungry Cristina to surgical hungry Cristina who was also a mother. "You know...I'm proud of you." "I'm proud of me too? Being a supportive wife is hard you know. You know he told me how grateful he was for everything I've done for him! Freaking Owen. I can't believe it." "You want to be bitter and annoyed don't you?" Meredith asked her with a smirk, linking her arm with Cristina's as they walked. "Yes and he's making it very difficult. I even got laid over it last night!"

The two friend's walked down the hallway and headed towards the cafeteria, grabbing coffees and sitting down at a nearby table. "So what's the plan?" Meredith asked, sipping hers. "Well...Owens' going to study for the boards and hopefully in like a month, he can take them and pass. In 4 months, I'm going to push a baby out my vagina and break Owen's newly functional hand." Cristina replied, sipping her coffee. Meredith laughed. "So life is returning to normal then?" "Well as normal as we get. Of course we still have to get baby stuff..." Cristina waved her hand in dismissal of it and continued to drink her coffee. "Thank you for not like...not talking to me." She said suddenly. "It's okay. I know how protective you are of Owen. I get it...I do. I get it now." "Thanks. That means a lot. Now help me up." Cristina said glancing at her pager. "There's a trauma."


	9. Chapter 9

A/n: I KNOW. I just want you to know that I'm sorry but it's here! I've been meaning to update this for ever but I hit a rough patch of writer's block and NOW, here it is. A NEW CHAPTERRR.

Chapter 9 - No or Yes

It was the big day. Owen was finally retaking his boards. He was nervous the night before, pacing the house, wondering if this was really a good idea. Owen shook his head, knowing that he knew it. He could do this. Owen could pass. Cristina sat on on the couch, resting a cereal bowl on her swollen belly. She happily munched away, occasionally eyeing her husband pacing the kitchen. "Owen, come and sit." He glanced up at her with worried eyes. "I just really want this..." Owen replied, running a hand through his hair. Cristina raised her eyebrows and beckoned him over. He came over to her and sat next to her on the couch. Cristina rubbed his back with her hand before Owen leaned against her and sighed heavily. "I know it's not the end of the world and I mean, it's not like I can't try again...but, if I just can't...I don't know what I'll do.." Cristina sighed herself. "Owen, we'll deal with it. Let's take this one step at a time. You know the material. You remember what to do. I know you know it. This will be a breeze, I promise. You're a trauma god and I know you'll pass with flying colours. I know you will. No sense worrying over something you'll ace." He shrugged, hoping she was right. "Now let's get in the shower and you can wash my hair."

The happy couple got into the shower and Owen got to wash her hair. Seeing her naked definitely helped some of the worry go away. He always had a huge grin on his face whenever he saw her naked and now that she was pregnant, it was even more so. Owen loved it and he'd certainly benefited from her high sex drive. They got dressed, slowly, each helping the other the best they could. Cristina drove him to the hospital and walked with him inside. They found the room he was taking it in and she turned towards him before he went in. "Owen, you have this." She leaned his head down and kissed his soft lips a couple of times and hugged him. Owen hugged her back and buried his face in her hair for a little bit before finally letting her go. He headed inside.

Cristina immediately went to the coffee cart and bought a couple of cookies and a massive cinnamon bun. She waddled over to one of the office chairs and waited, eating her spoils and trying to calm her nerves. He had to make it. Cristina hadn't practised what to say to him should he not pass. She was about 99% confident that he'd pass. The 1% was the unexpected. Cristina honestly felt like he was ready for this. Several hours went by while she consumed mass amounts of food. "You know you have to leave food for the rest of us right?" Alex said, walking up to her, putting his hands in his pocket. "Shut it Evil Spawn." Cristina replied, putting some chips in her mouth. "How do you think he's doing in there?" He asked, looking over at the door of the exam room before looking down at her. "Honestly...I hope well. I honestly do. I don't know what he'll do if he doesn't pass.." Alex frowned. "Hunt'll be fine. He's a fighter." He was trying to be reassuring but he was nervous too.

Finally the door opened and Owen walked out. Cristina and Alex both looked up and raised their eyebrows at him. Owen smiled. "I passed!" He said waving his piece of paper around. Cristina was utterly relived. Thank god. He walked over to her and hugged her gently as she got up. "I'm so proud of you.." Owen smiled and buried his face in her hair. He'd over come so much in the last year and now he was basically certified again apart from his shaking hands. Owen didn't want to think about that at the moment and instead wanted to focus on his brain working like it should. He certainly didn't feel as lost as he had and now he had some hope. Owen found something to hold onto, to continue his recovery. "Good job Hunt." Alex said with a smile on his face. "Thanks Karev." He couldn't stop smiling. Owen was so pleased with his accomplishment. He felt semi-normal now which definitely helped. They walked down the hallway together, hand in hand.

A/n: I know it's short. I promise there's more. I just wanted SOMETHING. 3 you all.


	10. Chapter 10 - Entwined

Chapter 10 – Entwined

They spent the day celebrating Owen's success. It was such a huge deal for them and he was just so relieved he had finally achieved that. They headed out to one of his favourite places to eat and sat on the patio under an umbrella. Owen grinned at her and she grinned back. "You are so getting laid when we get home." He laughed. "I can't wait." They both got iced tea and Owen sipped his, lost in thought. He stared down at the straw protruding from his glass. Owen couldn't just pick the thing up and sip it. His hands were still shaking and while he was happy his brain was thinking clearly, he knew that the likelihood that they would ever get steady again was slim. It was upsetting to say the least but at least he had his head. At least he could be left alone and at least he could be trusted to take care of their child once they were born. It felt like mere days ago, Cristina and his mother had been discussing putting him in a home or getting someone to take care of him during the day. It was an awful discussion, one that Owen knew needed to happen but it had upset him. At least now, that was done. Maybe he was done being a surgeon. At least he could be a damn good parent. That much he knew.

"Owen..." Cristina said gently, reaching across the table and touching his hand. He looked up, slightly startled but rested his other hand on hers. "Sorry, I'm here." Owen said with a smile. "Be happy Owen. This is a massive deal."She said raising her eyebrows. "I am. I am happy. I was just thinking about before. I'm relieved by my progress and I honestly don't know what I would have done if I hadn't gotten better." Cristina frowned. "Well we don't need to think about it now. Let's just focus on better things like this baby." She said patting her stomach. Owen grinned and reached across, rubbing her tummy. "True. Oh. Maybe we should get some baby things today." She nodded. "Sounds good. We don't want to have to make baby clothes out of your old shirts." Owen laughed. "Definitely not. I like my old shirts." "You should throw them away." Cristina said raising her eyebrows at him. "Excuse me but when was the last time you threw away old clothes or I don't know, picked some of them off the floor?" Owen countered with a grin. "Shut up." Cristina said, playfully swatting him. "Besides I have an excuse now! My pregnant belly hinders me." "I don't know if you're aware but I just recovered from a very severe brain injury and I don't think it's a good idea to hit me like that." He said, trying not to laugh. "HA!" Cristina laughed. Owen got up moved his chair closer to hers and sat down. He leaned against her and sighed.

Their food arrived and they ate happily. Owen went with a burger and fries, knowing that cutlery was still a little beyond him at this point. Cristina got the same with extra pickles. They laughed and chatted their way through lunch, both happy the day had been a bright one so far. Once they were finished, Cristina drove them to one of the large department stores and they headed inside to look at baby clothes. There was a whole section dedicated to babies. They both stared at the racks and racks of clothes and shoes and accessories. "God.." Cristina said, her mouth slightly agape. "I know.." Owen replied, taking her hand and looking at all of it with a similar look on his face. Neither of them had any idea where to start. He finally bit his lip and looked down at her. "Okay, let's at least, get some onesie's.." Cristina nodded and they walked together over to the shelves of clothes. Neither of them were sure what they were having and they had both agreed to grab gender neutral clothes. By the end of it, their carts were full. It went from grabbing some stuff for the baby to grabbing everything possible for the baby, complete with crib and the rest of the bedroom set.

They were both completely exhausted but managed to get everything in the back of the truck and drove home. Being too tired to unload, they put the truck in the garage and slowly headed upstairs, the both cursing the firehouse for having stairs. They practically crawled towards the couch and collapsed on it. "How are we going to get all that stuff upstairs?" Cristina breathed to Owen, resting her hand on her stomach. Owen sighed. "God, I don't know. I think I'll get Shepherd over here to help. Meredith can help too."

They both laid on the couch for a while, idly watching television and trying to work up the energy to get up. "Maybe we should order in." Owen offered, glancing over at her and taking her hand. Cristina nodded, agreeing with him. They ordered some pizza and popped in a TV series to watch. They spent the evening cuddling and eating pizza.

Once the day was over, they both somehow managed to crawl into bed, wrapping their limbs around each other, Cristina resting her huge belly on his side.

It was 2am when Cristina woke up, thinking she'd wet the bed. _How perfect. _She thought to herself, nudging her husband awake to help. The pain, however, that followed told her that she hadn't actually peed herself like she thought. Maybe she was relieved but she was a bit more preoccupied with something else. "What is it?" Owen asked in a tired voice. "Owen..Owen..I think the baby is coming.." Cristina replied with some panic in her voice. "Oh my god Owen we're not ready yet! We don't even have the furniture together and we don't even have a name! We don't have any bags or anything!" She winced as another burst of pain shot through her. "Uggghhhhh. We need to go.." Cristina said, clutching her stomach. "I know baby. We're going. I packed some bags a while ago." Owen replied. He scooped up their bags and slung them over his shoulders. Owen helped her down the stairs and got her into the truck. He hadn't driven in months but what else could he do? Owen had to do this. He leaped into the truck and drove her to the hospital.

They admitted her immediately and got her settled. They didn't have a name and the room wasn't ready. It was now or never and neither of them could do anything about it. Babies didn't generally come when you wanted them to. They came when they wanted. Owen sat behind her the whole time, clutching her hands as she pushed. It took 12 hours before finally they finally were able to meet their new little girl. "Oh Cristina...Oh she's beautiful..."Owen said with a smile on his face, tears pouring down his cheeks. Cristina nodded, wiping some tears of her own away. She took her little daughter in her arms and held her close. "Hey little lady..." Cristina breathed to her. "I'm your Mumma. I am and this is your Daddy." They were both immediately and completely in love with her. "Her name should be Grace." Owen said suddenly, stroking the top of their newborn's little head. "She was my old baby sitter when I was little. She was like another Mum for me."Cristina nodded. "I really like that." She thought for a minute. "Grace Hye Hunt. Hye means intelligence in Korean." Owen smiled at her. "We named our baby." "We did." She replied with a smile.

Cristina spent a couple of days in the hospital before finally being released. Owen slowly helped her up the stairs of their firehouse. "Yay! You guys are home!" Callie exclaimed with excitement. They both looked up and noticed all their friends were there. Owen grinned as Cristina did too, not being able to help it. There was a banner that said "Welcome Grace" on it and some food on the counter in the kitchen. "So we spent yesterday putting together your baby room seeing as though you two slackers never got around to it." Mark said with a grin on his face. "You..you did?" Owen asked, furrowing his eyebrows for a moment. Him and Cristina with baby in her arms walked over to the room. They were both in awe of the work their friends had done. All of the furniture had been assembled and the walls had been decorated. "Wow..you guys..." Owen said with a massive grin on his face. "You know this is the cheesiest thing ever right?" Cristina said, glancing over at Meredith who wore a grin. "Oh I know but you don't seem to mind." The raven haired woman considered that and nodded.

They visited and everyone got to hold the baby. Meredith was definitely getting that look in her eye as she held Grace in her arms. Derek definitely noticed. "Good work Hunt, now my wife is going to want another baby too.." Owen laughed. "So sorry." Derek knew full well Owen was not sorry at all but he didn't mind too much. He'd always wanted to have a little family with Meredith anyway.

GAGAGGAGAGA

Cristina spent a month on maternity leave. This had been a huge undertaking having a child and while both of them had their moments, ultimately, it was entirely worth it. The only thing that was a bit of a struggle was the lack of sleep. They had to convert back to their intern days again to remember what it felt like. Cristina had never though of herself as mother material and yet there she was raising this child with the man she loved. She had had some breast feeding issues, worried she was doing it all wrong but she was Cristina Yang and she wouldn't be defeated. Watching Owen with Grace was another thing. Grace loved Owen and Owen loved her. She was definitely going to be a Daddy's girl but while she was like him, she was starting to have an attitude, which, at times, Cristina pretended that she had no idea where Grace had gotten it from.

She sat on the couch, topless and was breast feeding Grace when Owen walked into the room with her cup of tea. He set it on the coffee table and sat next to her. "God, look at how huge my breasts are. I've even been pumping and they are still giant." Cristina complained looking down at them and at her little one. "Oh it's alright Cristina. I certainly don't mind." Owen said with a grin on his face. "Of course you don't mind. My boobs are one of your favourite things about me next to my hair." Cristina replied with a smirk on her face. Owen grinned again. He stroked the top of Grace's head as she suckled on her Mum and kissed the side of Cristina's head. "I love you Cristina." Owen said quietly, watching his daughter. "I love you too." Cristina turned her head towards Owen and kissed him gently on his lips. He kissed her back and rested his head on her shoulder. Once Grace was finished, Owen took her from Cristina so she could drink her tea. Grace stared up at her father before resting her head against him and closing her little eyes.

"So I start work again tomorrow." Cristina said watching Owen cook them some supper. "That's great news." Owen grinned at her before turning his attention back to the food. "Can you...maybe...bring her by part way through the day?" Cristina asked, raising her eyebrows at him. Owen grinned again. "What's this? Cristina needs her Gracie fix when there are lots of surgeries to be done?" He teased. "Shut up. Can you bring her or not?" "Of course I can. I promise." The first time Owen had been left alone with the baby, it had been a little nerve wracking for both of them but Owen realized pretty quick that being nervous was pointless. He already felt pretty at ease with her. Owen had normal parenting fears rather than his usual brain injury fears. He was officially going to be staying home with the baby by himself starting tomorrow. Owen was looking forward to it but after being at home with Cristina for a month solid, he'd certainly miss her. "Good." Cristina kissed him gently before opening the cupboards and grabbing some plates for the both of them. Owen smiled at her and finished up supper. They served themselves and sat down. Cristina set the baby monitor down on the table and started in on her food.

GAGAGAGAGAGA

"You have to get up Cristina." Owen mumbled into his pillow, shifting in bed a bit. "Hmmph. Whatever. I like being in bed. Besides, you're in the bed and you're warm." Cristina countered, tangling her limbs with his. Owen cuddled right up to her. He didn't really want her to go but she should. Cristina had to get back into the thick of it. Even if he was a little bit jealous. She eventually dragged herself out of bed and slowly put some clothes on. Cristina kissed Owen a couple of times and went into Grace's room to check on her, kiss her little face and reluctantly left.

She arrived at the hospital with a sense of joy. Cristina was excited. She couldn't wait to get back into the OR and get blood on her hands once more. While Callie had tried to convince Cristina to gradually ease into operating again, she understood where she was coming from and got her straight into the OR. It wasn't a Cardio surgery as Teddy had put her foot down but Ortho worked for Cristina right now. She was on a surgical high, grinning underneath her mask. Several hours later, Cristina was leaning against one of the nurse's desks when she heard a familiar voice. "Look it's Mummy." Owen said with a grin on his face. Cristina looked up and grinned at Owen and Grace. She reached out and took Grace from Owen and held her close. "Oh my god Gracie. I missed you so much.." Cristina took in the feeling, happy she was there. "Getting soft Yang." Alex commented with a laugh. "Shut up Evil Spawn." Cristina retorted, continuing to hold her baby girl. "I'm not getting soft. I'm still me but you'd get this way if you were holding her."

"How was your surgery?" Owen asked her as they walked down the hallway. Cristina kissed the top of Grace's little head and looked back up at him. "Oh my god Owen, it was amazing. I mean it was Ortho but it was still amazing and I.." She stopped herself. "Are you sure you want me to keep going?" Owen sighed. "I do. This is a big deal for you and I'm honestly happy." Cristina raised her eyebrows. "So you're not seething with jealously on the inside?" Owen laughed. "I am a little but continue anyway." Cristina regaled him with every detail as they headed towards the cafeteria. He was thrilled she was so happy. Surgery was her love and it showed on her face. "How's Grace doing?" Cristina asked Owen. "Oh she's been good. She's just so fascinated by everything around her right now. Grace loves her room. She's always staring at the animals on the wall and that little stuffed sheep my Mum got her makes her really happy too. Doesn't it Gracie?" Owen said smiling at her. She grinned back. "Oh my god Owen! She grinned! PUT THAT ON THE CALENDER!...I mean...put it on the calender, if you have a chance.." Cristina corrected, shifting in her seat. Owen nodded, hiding his smirk.


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

A year went by. Grace was nearly one by this point and was now sitting in her Mum's lap while her father was standing in the OR below. Owen was about to operate for the first time since the accident. It had been a long, hard journey but ultimately he had full recovered, scars being the only things that were still visible. Cristina, at first, had a slightly worried expression on her face, watching her husband. As he started and dove into the surgery, a nod from April as she looked up at Cristina signalled good things.

It was a rush for Owen as he stood above the patient he was operating on. _Finally. _Finally Owen could be who he wanted to be at work. The year he spent taking care of Grace had been absolutely incredible and honestly, he was only coming back part time. Owen still wanted to spend a great deal of time with his daughter but being able to do everything that he could before made him feel complete. Life seemed to make sense once more. Cristina had synced her career with being a mother. It seemed natural for her to balance both, the fears she had before seemed to wash away. Sure their lives weren't perfect but they didn't do perfect. They both loved each other fiercely and loved their daughter more than anything. Sometimes it was hard but they made it work.

Owen was happy and so was Cristina. As Cristina sat watching her husband, a huge grin spread across her face, her daughter entranced by her father below. Occasionally Owen would look up and wave at them, the both of them waving back. Gracie had been mildly confused at first but she could recognize his eyes. She was a smart cookie. Before Owen was working, he used to take her to the hospital to watch Cristina. Gracie would always watch her Mum intently while Owen narrated what she was doing. Now Cristina sat and narrated to Grace what Owen was doing.

Everything seemed to make a hell of a lot more sense now.


End file.
